Mistakes Happen: Turning Student Crashes into Teachable Moments with Your CNC Mill

College freshman are immersed in new experiences at the start of the fall semester – their first time away from home, shopping on a budget, and, many times, their first time coming face to face with a CNC machine. We’ve all seen them.

Next week brings about the new era of the Tormach Open House, Tormach Tech Days!

The beginning of the school year is fueled with energy of new classes for students around the country, but for a team of Covington, WA, students, it’s the smell of sizzling coolant and oil that gets them excited for the start of the school year and FIRST robotics preparation.

FIRST Robotics is a quickly-growing STEM initiative, founded by Dean Kamen, that pits kids against each other in robotic contests while promoting a fine combination of cooperation and competition. Teenagers stew over various engineering issues, component failures, and efficiency quotas all while coordinating their teams like a start-up engineering business – in essence, this is one of the truest forms of STEM education out there.

While in high school, Scott Pobjoy took a part-time job at Cash Manufacturing Company, a custom machine shop and specialty manufacturer of supplies and accessories for firearms. High school ended and Pobjoy accepted a position as a full-time machinist in the shop. Purchasing the company from founder Ted D. Cash in 2006, Pobjoy has ramped up production. Cash Manufacturing now boasts a catalog of 100 parts and accessories.